Inescapable
by ToldInTechnicolour
Summary: Alex goes back to Brecon Beacons to get back into shape. Are K-Unit pleased to see him? Training camp with a twist! Rated T because I like to be safe :
1. Back at Beacons

**My first Alex Rider fanfic. A couple of things, there will be a twist to the stereotypical 'Alex goes back to Brecon Beacons' story sooner or later :). Also, the Unit know about his work for MI6 but not about the gunshot wound.**

Alex Rider stood in the lobby of the Royal & General bank feeling quite conspicuous. MI6 clearly hadn't expected a teenager to be on a team when they designed the cover for their headquarters. The tousle-headed fifteen year old shifted uncomfortably on the sofa in the pristine waiting area.

He had woken up that morning to the sound of the letter box clanking as the post was pushed through. He was slightly annoyed; he'd never be able to get back to sleep now! Alex collected the post and thumbed through it half-heartedly – it was usually all for Jack who was out shopping all day. The envelope with his name on had elevated his mood slightly, until he tore open it open and looked at the letterhead. Great. His bank manager needed to speak to him about the new security policies. Alex dressed quickly, grabbed a banana and headed out into the autumn sunshine.

He'd left a note for Jack – using the same excuse that the summoning letter had. Only days ago she had been fantasising that Alan Blunt might, just might, leave Alex alone this time. It had been three months since his last mission – a promisingly long time. Alex was pretty certain that Jack would understand what was happening from the note. He didn't know what Blunt wanted and whether he'd be allowed to come back home. He didn't want to know.

"Mr Blunt will see you now." The clipped tones of the receptionist stirred Alex from his reverie. Alex merely nodded and headed up the stairs to the office where his 'career' began.

"Ah, Alex, please take a seat." greeted Alan Blunt. As always, it struck Alex that his boss was overwhelmingly....grey. There was nothing else to it. Blunt was a grey man. Smirking to himself at that thought, he obliged. "Alex, you've been out of work for months after your, ahem, accident. We've consulted with your physician and we think that it is time for you to get back into shape."

Alex began to interrupt, "Mr Blunt, really, I am in perfe..."

The serious, stout man sat behind the desk cut him off with a look behind which lay all the previous threat that had persuaded Alex to go on missions. Apparently a gunshot wound that was only just above his heart warranted little rest for the wicked. Seeing he had subdued the boy, he continued. "We have found the perfect place for you to train Alex, I think you'll like it!"

Alex wasn't so sure, his boss had never given him anything remotely enjoyable to do before now. Seeing that the man was waiting for an answer, he said "Where am I going?" It was a foregone conclusion that Alex would be going on where he was told to; he wasn't in a position to refuse.

* * *

The teenage spy miserably surveyed the squat cabins that lay all around him. The log huts looked quaint and cosy, but Alex knew the truth. He looked at his feet, already encased in sturdy black boots (which, by the way, were giving him a blister!) which were in turn covered in mud. He shook his blonde hair out of his eyes and sighed – you could never stay dry at Brecon Beacons.

He hadn't reacted well to the news of where he would be spending the next month. He wasn't proud of it and his reaction probably would have lost him any other job. Alex wasn't that lucky. Anyway, he couldn't be blamed for reacting badly. Last time he was here it had been hell. There was nothing he could do now though. Shifting his heavy pack on his shoulder, he steeled himself and pushed open the door to the cabin housing the rest of K-Unit. His unit. Unfortunately.

The four men in the cabin barely looked up from what they were doing when the door to their hut swung open. Wolf – the grizzled, powerful looking man in the corner – carried on cleaning his gun, square-jawed Fox glanced up briefly before returning to his game of solitaire on the bed and Eagle and Snake carried on their conversation. Alex found their double-takes almost gratifying. It took about ten seconds, which, considering they were highly trained men, was a long time, before Wolf finally managed to say "Alex?". Alex had helped Wolf when he needed it most, he had always seemed slightly more civil since he'd saved his career in the SAS.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here, Cub?" growled Snake who was the medic.

"Nice to see you too, Snake." replied Alex with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Answer the question Cub!" snapped Fox.

"Great. I don't know if I can stand a month of this," Alex grumbled, subconsciously rubbed his chest, "you all know that I work for MI6, right?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fox roll his eyes. No-one answered, Alex took this to mean that they knew and carried on. "Anyway, I've been out of work for a few months and guess where I got sent to get back into shape?".

"Right. Grab your bed then. We've got an early start in the morning Cub." Fox had obviously picked up on Alex's vibes of being uncomfortable and decided to be slightly more pleasant.

Without another word, Alex dropped his pack to the floor, rolled on to his bed and faced away from the still disbelieving stares of K-Unit.

**I hope you liked it! Please review? It'll let me know whether to carry on. Thank you!**


	2. Dust Motes

**Thank you all so much for reviewing/alerting etc. I was so surprised that anyone actually read it :) A special thanks to randomness6 who saved me some embarrassment! If I get anything wrong (which I'm really trying not to!) my books are in the attic at the moment so just call me out on it and let me know? If anyone seems out of character, the same with that too! I haven't read any of the books for a while but I just found a plot I'd scribbled down and really fancied writing it :)  
**

Alex rolled out of bed and rubbed the gritty sleep from his eyes. After a week of the gruelling training course, even the meagre mattress on his bed felt heavenly. Not that he got to spend much time lying on it, of course. He'd been up with the sun every morning to run the obstacle course with the rest of K-Unit. It definitely didn't help that no-one in the cabin was a morning person – Alex included. They'd slowly accepted the silence and Alex was glad that no-one tried to fill the quiet time. Not that they talked to him much at any other time of the day, mind. They were perfectly civil when they did speak to him, if you ignored the occasional growls in some of the exercises.

Alex truly awoke to find himself pulling on his boots. He must have been in a trance until then. "C'mon Cub!" Wolf called from the doorway. Alex shook himself and rubbed his chest. It was time to train.

An hour later, the team was stood in front of the drill sergeant. They were muddy, sweaty and a little bit cranky. A piece of sweat-matted, dirty-blonde hair flopped across Alex's eye. Without thinking, he brushed it away. He realised his mistake when he saw Fox smirking at him amiably. "Got mud everywhere didn't I?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure did, Cub. Seriously though, you're getting good at this obstacle course, for a kid."

Alex knew compliments wouldn't get much better than this from the Liverpudlian man.

"Quiet, you two!" Shouted the drill sergeant. Alex grimaced. "Today, to mark your first week of training, we have a special treat." Cold dread pooled in Alex's stomach. A treat was always a trick at Brecon Beacons. His chest was a bit stiff as well. For the thousandth time he cursed the man who shot him all those months ago. "We're dropping you in the middle of a forest. You have twelve hours to find a cottage with an injured comrade and get him back here. Sounds simple? You'll be carrying twenty pound packs and have no compasses.".

* * *

"Come on, lads. There it is! There's the cottage!" Wolf was beaming, after only four hours, they'd located the target and were keeping good time. Alex, on the other hand, wasn't feeling so chirpy. His chest was really starting to ache. The twenty pound pack wasn't helping and he wasn't looking forward to meeting this injured comrade.

The men pushed open the door to the ruined cottage. They hadn't been given any training weapons so it was obvious that the mission was just search and rescue. The unit split off looking into different rooms, pushing open doors and climbing the stairs. When he was out of sight of the others, Alex slid down the wall and slumped onto the floor. He was exhausted. After casting his eyes around the room and assuring himself that the injured comrade wasn't in there, he focussed on breathing and let his eyes follow the swirling dust-motes in the sun pouring through the window. The combination of the warm sun and the physical exercise had made him feel bit woozy. He'd just sit and rest a while.

"Cub?" Alex opened his eyes. Oh. It was Fox. God, his chest hurt.

"'S'up Fox?" That concerned the older man. Cub had slurred his words. And come to think of it, he didn't look well, a sheen of sweat covered his pale face. He heard footsteps outside the room – after spending so much time with his unit, he could tell exactly who it was.

"Wolf, get in here." Fox called out. He was a bit worried now that the boy had closed his eyes again. He really looked his age, vulnerable and collapsed against the wall.

"Fox, we already got it. What do I need to...oh." Wolf pushed through the door and dropped the heavy sack which was doubling as the injured man to the floor.

"Alex? What's going on?" Wolf could tell there was something seriously wrong with the boy. Alex never showed weakness. Alex just looked blearily up at the tanned face which was squinting in concern at him.

"Wolf, what's going on?" Snake had walked into the room, closely followed by Eagle, clearly wanting to get back to base camp as soon as possible. He took one took at the boy on the floor and slid his pack off his back. Snake was the medic in the unit and he knew something was wrong. Heck, they all did. You didn't need to be a medic to know that a four hour hike shouldn't have caused a healthy fifteen year old to look like Alex did now. Especially not one who was as fit as he was. He lay Alex on the wooden floor and put his head to his chest. Snake couldn't hear his heart very well through the layers of clothing. He didn't like to do it but he pulled off Alex's layers, slowly and gently. The boy whimpered when Snake touched his chest. He removed the final layer and gasped.

"What is it, Snake?" The other men had been discussing what to do to get back to camp. Eagle wanted to carry both Alex and their 'injured comrade' to camp whereas Wolf and Fox thought they'd be best to radio it in and get help. They hadn't reached a decision before Snake shouted out.

"Snake?" Fox looked at the heavy-set man. He was pale and looked a bit nauseous. Him being speechless wasn't a good sign. The three men walked over to where the medic was squatting on his haunches next to Cub. At first glance, his chest seemed normal. At second glance it was terrifying. A shiny silver scar crouched above his heart. It squatted there, angry and challenging anyone who looked at it.

When the men could finally speak again, Eagle vocalised what everyone else was thinking.

"Snake, is that a....what we think it is?" he stammered. Snake nodded weakly. That bullet probably should have killed the boy. There was a general feeling that maybe they shouldn't have been so harsh on Cub. To tell the truth, he was only a boy, and a damaged one at that.

***

Alex rubbed the gritty sleep from his eyes. He tried to sit up, he'd be late for the start of the days training.

"Take it easy, Cub!" chuckled Wolf. "You had us worried for a while there! And we're not easy to make worry!" Alex looked up and saw the whole of K-Unit surrounding his bed and grinning at him.

"What...happened, Wolf?" The boy with the dirty blond hair pushed himself up in his bed, wincing, in the early morning sun of the hospital wing. His forehead creased in confusion.

"We think you tried to do a bit too much after your...injury." Eagle spoke up for Wolf with a clear note of disgust in his voice.

"You saw it then?" Alex asked resignedly.

"We did, Cub. We did. To tell you the truth...it's sickening. I know we've got to deal with these injuries in the SAS, but one like this...on a kid, it's just, shocking you know?" Fox said, and then cleared his throat, gruffly, embarrassed.

"It should have killed you, kid! Any lower and..." Snake burst out.

Alex just smiled. Inside he felt warm, happy that he had people who actually seemed to care.

"Anyway, Cub," Wolf ended the semi-awkward bonding moment, "the doctor said you can start back tomorrow if you take it easy. Make the most of this day off! We're off to run the course.". He stood up, "C'mon boys.". With one last look at their youngest team member, they filed out of the ward. Alex grinned and rubbed his chest. It certainly seemed that life at Brecon Beacons would be getting a bit more enjoyable!

**Thank you again for reading! Please review? They've all made me really happy :D Again, call me out on any problems. Oh. FYI - if the bit about the scar seemed a little strange, I was trying to channel Markus Zusak's beautiful style. I don't think it worked too well :'] x**


	3. Ergonomics of Friendship

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Everything is just a little busy at the moment – too much GCSE revision for my liking. I will keep this story going, just might take me a while! Thank you for all the alerts/favourites and reviews. I better go now, I'm uploading before school because I have no idea when my internet will work again!  
**

Alex was feeling restless. A week in the hospital wing had left him frustrated and ready to prove himself to the rest of his unit. They had been visiting him when they had free time – his relationship with the men was definitely improving! He was regaled with tales and amusing anecdotes that Alex found amazing – he hadn't realised these men were not only loyal colleagues but actually best friends too. The stories hadn't made him feel better today though; the pain in his chest was long gone and if he couldn't go home, he felt he should start getting into shape. He took a drink from the glass by his bed and watched the fatigued doctor walking down the corridor towards him...

* * *

The cabin was deserted. The Unit was obviously out on an exercise, Alex flung his bag on the floor by the bed and flopped onto it. He was ready for action but definitely wasn't stupid enough to invite extra exercise for being late to a session – he wasn't entirely sure that his being in the hospital wing would be a good enough reason for some of the more sadistic sergeants. Anyway, the doctor had made him promise not to push himself too hard too soon. He was meant to join in with all of the exercises but if there was any substantial pain (a slight ache was to be expected), he was to stop and he had to take his pills three times a day. Alex had no idea what the medicine did but he agreed, the walls of the hospital wing were starting to make him feel smothered, like bodyguards, protecting him yet cutting him out from the rest of the world.

Alex lay musing on his bed until the door was flung open by Wolf, he was looking over his shoulder at Eagle who had clearly been telling a story.

"Hi, guys." Alex raised his eyebrows and grinned at the older men who crowded the cabin.

"Alex! They let you out?" asked Eagle, he'd been feeling a little guilty for wanted to proceed with the task when Alex had been injured so was being apologetically polite.

Feeling no ill-will towards his comrade, Alex nodded. A general chatter started and Alex found himself actually enjoying his time at Brecon Beacons. Well, that was a surprise!

* * *

After the morning session of the obstacle course, Alex was reconsidering his positive sentiments. His chest felt fine but every other muscle in his body burnt like the fires of hell. He'd ducked under bars whilst struggling through mud as thick as that boy in the back of the class at school who'd insisted ergonomics was an organic kind of egg – any way you described it, the mud wasn't the easiest thing in the world to scramble through. Throwing himself under nets and wrestling his way across the monkey bars didn't do much to improve his spirits either. There was one bright moment however, Snake managed to lose a boot in the sludge and the frenzied dance he did to avoid muddying his sock provided much hilarity for the rest of the unit.

He ambled off to the showers, hoping against hope that a plumber had been called mercifully since the day before. No such luck. He washed himself as briskly as possible, the worst of the mud came off in the first torrent of cold water. The rest was a bit tougher and the icy fingers of the water took too long to remove it for Alex's liking.

At the end of his first day back, Alex was shattered. The afternoon session had been endurance running and only sheer determination to outlast at least one of the men in his unit had kept him running. The course they had been set was winding up and down the hills – it was definitely not a pleasure jog through Hyde Park on a Sunday afternoon. After fifty-five minutes of running, it felt like someone had put his lungs in a vice. He briefly mused this was a peculiar metaphor before his mind was taken up with the pain of lactic acid cramping his calves. Only when he saw Snake sink to the ground in exhaustion did Alex succumb to rest. All in all, Alex was very glad to climb into his bed, even if every single one of the springs felt the need to remind him of their constant presence.

* * *

Ten days later and Alex was practising archery. He couldn't understand when exactly this would come in useful in his line of work but he wasn't complaining. You never knew what missions you would be forced onto, and beside, shooting arrows didn't require much running. Fox was becoming frustrated at the target range beside him. His scarred and chunky fingers weren't as nimble as Alex's and each bullseye the boy got seemed to personally insult the older operative. Alex chuckled as one of Fox's arrows flew completely past the target. The older man shot a look at Alex with his eyebrows raised, he definitely embodied his unit name at that moment. Alex shuddered, he'd pay dearly for his moment of mirth. Fox, however friendly you were with him, wasn't one to feel mocked.

Alex never did find out what his 'punishment' would have been. At the end of the session he was instructed to go to the hut from which the business side of Brecon Beacons was run. Sitting there was Alan Blunt. In a blurred ten minutes it was decided Alex had reached prime fitness and would be returning home. He made his way back to the hut which was unfortunately deserted. Since he had a car waiting, he hastily scribbled a note of farewell and best wishes to his comrades. Surveying the hut, Alex realised he'd miss his Unit, they'd become like older (and often annoying) brothers to him.

**Thanks for reading! Review? :) And the bit about ergonomics was something that really happened. As little year 9s we walked out of our GCSE graphics exam and all were like 'did you know the ergonomics thing?' My favourite theory was that is was a type of egg. P.S Who has Tumblr? :)**


	4. Strike of the Snake

Alex stared blankly at the board in his History classroom. It had been so long since he'd been in school, what with being shot in the chest and then forced into training, that he'd completely forgotten all of the work he'd done throughout the year. He wasn't impressed, he'd have to study crazily to catch up, did he ever get an easy time? Was there any point, he pondered moodily. After all, MI5 were sure to 'recruit' him to stop some impending doom in the near future. Why else would they have sent him to train? This dread, on top of the incomprehensible work, was not making Alex Rider the happiest teenage super spy in the country. Actually, he would always be the happiest teenage super spy in the country (and the most miserable), seeing as he had the 'privilege' of being the only one.

The men in K-Unit took it in turns to read the content of the hastily scrawled note.

"Dammit!" exclaimed Fox.

"I know," agreed Snake, lying back on his bed. "I bet they knew we'd ask. Soon as he was cleared and had the least bit of fitness he was packed off."

The men had been biding their time. They were concerned about the youngest member of K-Unit and wanted to know what exactly he'd been through. They knew it was MI5 but what could they do with a child? Surely nothing _that _dangerous. Probably just asked him about the patterns of a teenage life or some other useless stuff. They'd tried to give Cub the time and space to adjust, after all it's never going to be a comfortable conversation when you're talking about a bullet hole to the chest. And he hadn't exactly sounded thrilled when he realised they'd seen the scar in the first place.

Cub had been settling down well, he'd even joked and laughed with the team a bit; the men had planned to start enquiries the very next day. It was a bit of a mystery as to why a boy that young would sustain an injury that severe; what could he have done to earn such a twisted memento? It had to stand for something.  
Anyway, everything had been working a treat until they came back from the archery arena and found that Cub had been whisked away.

"It's not right you know," grumbled Eagle. He'd grown rather fond of the teenager, he'd noticed a spark in those glacial blue eyes. They seemed to be pools to drown in - dangerous eyes - eyes of someone who'd seen more than enough. But they also seemed intelligent and occasionally quite warm. Cub was clearly used to shielding this, one morning he'd noticed Eagle noticing his alertness and the glacial pools suddenly iced over and dulled. Why would the boy need to hide his intelligence, his awareness? What possible reason could he have?

Alex was sat with Tom Harris at a lunch table in the crowded cafeteria at school. Tom was the only person who seemed to be willing to put up with Alex's prolonged absences from school, he always slipped straight back into talking to his friend without any mention of the missing weeks.

The tousle headed boy was painfully aware that most of the chatter in this raucous dining hall concerned him. He'd been on multiple missions and faced death many times but despite this, it still pained him to hear his name being slandered. To be honest, it wasn't fair. The stupid kids didn't know how many times that the 'druggie' had saved their miserable lives. They continued to speculate, loudly, about Alex's supposed chest infection. He didn't know what he'd done to earn their scepticism. The mass opinion seemed to be that he was 'troubled' after his Uncle's sudden death and he'd filled the gaping hole in his heart with cocktails of illegal drugs. It would have been laughable if he wasn't being given furtive looks and glares of disdain from his peers. He'd even been approached to ask whether he could hook the asker up his 'source, man'.

Alex chewed his lasagne. It wasn't very nice, the cheese was rubbery and the meat was unidentifiable as any kind fit for human consumption. Tom and he weren't talking a lot, they were trying to wolf down their food as fast as possible to get outside. You had to eat quickly to do this, the lunch hour was merely a name in Alex's school, after forty minutes, lessons recommenced. As he battled his way outside to the school yard he heard a very interesting snatch of conversation.

"...said we're going for a week or something."

"Brecon Beacons was it?"

"Yeah, the whole year..."

Alex recognised the two girls as from his History class. His insides squirmed. If that meant what he thought it did...What would happen if he went back? He'd liked K-Unit well enough but they'd obviously just been pitying him because he was unfit, broken with a bullet. What would they be like if they saw him fully healed, would they make his life the hell the way they did when he first met them? You couldn't trust anyone really.

Alex's gloomy train of thought firmly reached the station when he heard Tom shout at a skin-headed boy from the year above.

"Do you want to say that again?" Tom was challenging. He clearly thought Alex had gone on ahead. When he grabbed Tom by the shoulders and asked politely what the _hell _was going on - why was he picking a fight with a boy who looked like a cross between Mike Tyson, a pitbull and a steam roller - he averted his eyes and tried to brush off the question.

"I'll tell ya," said Skinhead who was clearly riled by Tom's shout. Any raised voice seemed to provoke people like him. "We was wondering if you learned your _habit_ off that Uncle of yours. The dead one, I mean." he swaggered, filled with testosterone and bravado, particularly in place of his brains.

He'd gone too far. Tom knew it. Skinhead's mates knew it. Even Skinhead himself, the thickest of the lot, knew it, the way Alex's face changed was a dead give away. Even though he was half a head shorter, he was in a much better shape and it looked to Tom as if every muscle in Alex's body was alive with a current, popping and tautening against his skin. All in all, Alex embodied danger. A snake ready to strike. A rope ready to snap. A whip ready to crack. The real pity was that Skinhead's lack of brain cells led him to question Alex if he 'did or what?'. If he'd left before that last question then he might, just might, not have been firmly knocked out with a right hook to the jaw. As it was, that was exactly what happened.

Word of what had happened spread quickly around the school but Alex was never punished. Skinhead wasn't the type of boy to look weak by telling on his enemies. Nobody exactly liked him anyway. He was now avoiding Alex as best as he could. Life had improved a little after the incident, if any rumours were flying round about him, he certainly didn't catch any of them. Alex knew that they didn't suddenly accept his illness excuse but he didn't care. At least they'd stopped talking about him. It kind of disgusted him that it took violence to achieve this, but what could he do?

Everything was going acceptably for Alex until he received the letter requesting a carer's permission for him to attend an 'experience of military life' ostensibly to try and improve to discipline in the school. The trip couldn't be compulsory but the letter made it sound so. Alex turned the situation over and over in his head until he arrived home. There he discovered that Blunt had already rung Jack and told her he was to be sent on the trip. The message was 'blend in, train up, work out'. Alex's last hope had been that Blunt would think it too risky to send him in case his cover was blown. No such luck, he rued, no such luck in his life.


	5. Chariot of Hell

**I know this is short and it took me a long time to update, I'm really sorry. I had trouble writing this chapter because I didn't know how I was going to make this bit different from the generic (but still very fun) 'Alex's class goes to BB'. I don't really like this chapter but reviews really do motivate me. Thank you for the lovely ones I had for the last chapter, they stopped me giving up. If I have some facts wrong, sorry. My books are still MIA. D:  
**

It was a chariot of hell. In more than one way. Not only was the cramped coach delivering them to Brecon Beacons (where Alex was unsure if he was truly accepted – even if they _had _been nice to him), but it was hot and sticky. Too many bodies were crowded in on the bus and Alex was sick of it, luckily they were almost there.

"Miss! Sir! Suki feels travel sick!" squealed a girl from the back of the coach, Alex groaned and thanked the heavens he'd chosen to sit at the front with Tom. Fortunately, they made it off the bus in time for the pale girl to recover without a nasty incident.

Alex hadn't been able to find out if K-Unit knew that he was coming but he had a plan. All sixty of the pupils on the trip hauled their bags off the coach and stood in groups chatting loudly. A shrill blast on a whistle caused a few people to jump and everybody to whip their heads in the direction it came from. Alex groaned, it turned out that K-Unit would be training them. He'd hoped against hope that they'd be assigned to one of the other units.

Five minutes and a thorough berating later, Alex's classmates were stood in an orderly line with their bags and some shock at what their holiday week was actually going to be like. They hadn't expected to be treated like real soldiers, _surely _that was child abuse or something. Alex was half-amused and half-disgusted at how childish some people of his age were. Fox was reading out the cabin assignments and to his credit only stumbled a little at 'Rider, Alex'. Alex caught his eye and he saw Fox's eyes widen slightly. Eagle frowned, half-opening his mouth and Alex was grateful when Snake's elbow caught him in the ribs. Luckily, the rest of the class were busy staring at Fox to pay much attention to his comrades' shock.

The teachers had already been ushered off to a rather more luxurious cabin and everyone else was dispersing. As they walked near the men, Alex turned to Tom and made a rather rude remark about their hosts this week. He spoke particularly loudly and no-one around them was surprised when he was ordered to stay behind. That crazy Alex, just because no-one bothered him didn't mean that they all thought he was sane.

When the rest of the class had gone off see their huts – Alex wished he could have seen their faces at the low, uncomfortable beds – K-Unit converged on him.

"What in the name Wolf's Y-fronts is going on Cub?" Eagle demanded, earning a warning eyebrow raise of his leader.

"I thought they would have bloody let you know," Alex grumbled. "School trip and apparently Blunt thinks I could use even more training."

After a few exclamations later, including Fox's remembering Alex's laugh at his expense, Wolf spoke up, "Men, we have to do something here. Use the time properly." They all nodded, including a slightly reluctant Alex. Twenty minutes later and a plan had been formulated. Alex was to join in with group sessions but the men would make each task slightly harder for the elite boy in the class's midst. They would aim to meet once a day, or pass messages a few times. It was Fox who had the idea of Alex's 'punishment' being washing up duty every evening. In that time, they could discuss events and how to keep his prowess a secret.

Alex left for the hut feeling a lot happier about his time at Brecon. The men seemed to actually like him and being with Tom could actually be fun. The men had said that it would be best if Alex tried not to appear too highly trained. He'd groaned when they said that, surely, he'd said, they realised that he did know a thing or two about blending in. But then he realised that they didn't know exactly what he did for MI5.

Still, this week couldn't be too bad. Could it?

**Thank you for sticking with me, review? :)**


	6. Salutes and Streching Skin

**Hey, a slightly quicker update time! However, I'm starting college on Friday and with 5 As-Levels to learn about, updating may be hindered again. Hopefully not as I have a direction for this story, it's just getting it to co-operate and move along! Anyway, thank you to everyone who corrected me about MI5/6. I swear there is something in my brain which rebels against this piece of information. I love getting reviews so even if you just want to correct me, go for it! Enjoy...

* * *

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Alex was on a plane. He was on an exercise in which he couldn't participate; a man crouched at the door visibly quivering and Alex started to move towards the figure, ready to push him out...

The sound of the door being swung open so forcefully that it's hinges were sure to need tender loving care stirred Alex and the other boys in the extra large cabin from their dream worlds. Scrambling upright and clambering out of bed with his hand snapping to a salute, Alex was realised the soldier sent to rouse them was the very man he'd been about to dream-push out of a plane.

Taking advantage of the fact the other boys were lazily rolling in their covers, Wolf slipped Cub a quick wink. The boys were starting to eye Alex like he was crazy but that stopped when Wolf snapped.

"When a superior enters the room you stand and salute immediately. Is that clear?" The boys were too stunned to respond.

"Is that clear?" Wolf was starting to look dangerously like his name-animal. The boys seemed to move as a single organism, freezing in shock and then scrambling to match Alex's position at the foot of their beds. They were quite a sight in an odd mixture of over-long pyjamas and baggy boxer shorts, all with rumpled hair and dream-crusted eyes. This, mixed with the unsure way they were standing to attention made Alex want to smile. He didn't though, too well trained. The boys muttered hastily an affirmation that the subject was as clear as crystal.

"Today is starting with an assault course. Clothes on, outside in ten minutes. Washing and eating is for afterwards." Wolf was rather enjoying to looks of dismay plastered onto his charges' faces. An idea then sprang to mind, "Rider, a word out here please,".

Alex wondered what Wolf was playing at, singling him out so obviously from the rest of his cabin. It then struck him and he'd like to think that the earliness of the hour (6am) excused him from how slow his mind was working. He'd provided himself with an excuse, of course a soldier would want to know where an ordinary boy of fifteen would be ingrained so deeply to stand to attention that he would jump from sleep into it. Wolf had clearly figured it out before him.

He stood facing Wolf outside the log cabin, a smirk on his lips. "You shook them up in there," he smiled. Maybe his classmates would become more bearable after a week of soldierly living.

The older man smiled, which looked strange at first to Alex, then he had to admit that it quite suited the grizzled man. "The Unit has decided that you're going to have a time to beat on the assault course this morning, Cub."

Now the reason for the smile was clear. Alex drew his arms around him, the cabin wasn't exactly sweltering, but the early morning was a freezing. In hindsight, Alex was glad for the heat of the Chariot of Hell from yesterday. It now seemed improbable that anything could be that warm in this November chill. "Name it," he challenged, arching an eyebrow. Wolf certainly didn't beat about the bush.

"Whole course in under four minutes, that's what we do," Wolf obviously thought he was throwing down the gauntlet. Alex only nodded, pushing back his bed-rumpled hair. "One more thing, Cub. If one of us makes eye contact with you and taps our chest three times, pretend to have a breathless moment and we'll come and speak to you, 'check you're alright' sort of thing. Blame it on the 'chest-infection'.".

Alex assented then quickly rejoined his cabin members, he had to be ready in time for the course. When he went in, he quickly diffused the questions with 'wanted to know where I got the salute thing from', when they demanded to know for themselves, he replied that his Uncle sent him to many summer camps and one had been military themed.

He tied his boots and followed the rest of his male classmates outside. Surprisingly, the girls were already there. He wondered who'd had the pleasure of waking them up, their reactions would have been worth paying for. He reckoned that it must have been Eagle; Snake wasn't the most intimidating man and Fox wasn't likely to shout at girls. Whilst Alex respected Eagle, he deduced that he was the only one likely to frighten the girls into being up and dressed so early. He remembered being intimidated by Eagle which made him smile now. The whole of K-Unit were a lot softer than they liked to let on. Alex had to remind himself that they were possibly only acting and really resented him.

The assault course was relatively simple yet very physically demanding. Some of his classmates turned to each other, rebellious notions that would never be carried out slick on their lips. (_'This is like child abuse or something!' 'Gonna sue!'_) They were to be set off five at a time. Team work was optional ('sometimes soldiers have to rely on themselves') and the groups would be staggered, setting off every two minutes. The official target was under six minutes and no-one wanted to find out what would happen if they didn't meet it.

Alex was in the third group. He'd been warming up whilst the other three (two girls and a boy) stood despairing as their dreams of a perfect week away from school shattered as abruptly as the door crash had shattered their sleep that morning. When the whistle was blown, he ran off fast and hard.

The night had obviously been bitterly cold as the ground was lightly covered in a fairy-powder-like dusting of frost. This, however, did not stop the mud being particularly sludge-like. A thought flashed into his head as he dived over and ducked under poles; did they import the mud from somewhere? Surely nothing should be that _evil _naturally.

Alex ran on, impervious to the astonished cries of his classmates, he _had _to show K-Unit he was just as good as they were, then maybe they'd accept him for real. Clambering up the cargo net, he became aware that he could feel a curious tugging sensation where his scar was. It didn't hurt so he wasn't worried, it just felt like someone had stretched his skin too tightly and it twisted with every movement.

Pushing that to the back of his mind, pushing every thing but pure animal instincts to the back of his mind, Alex jumped off the zip wire and squeezed through a narrow tunnel. He could see the end of the course now and Eagle was stood there with ten fingers up. A boy from the group before him was just dragging himself over the finish line and Alex set his jaw in steely determination.

One of Eagle's fingers fell, showing Alex that he had only nine seconds to finish the course. After running through ten tyres, Alex looked ahead as he sprinted to the finish. His legs were burning with lactic acid and his eyes were streaming with the cold wind. Throwing himself over the line, he collapsed into a sitting position and tried to ask Eagle for his time. He was so out of breath that he had to resort to crude hand actions; tapping his wrist and raising his eyebrows.

"Four-oh-two, not bad for a Cub!" Eagle finally understood him, and he answered with a mix of teasing and admiration in the tones of his voice.

Alex felt weirdly disappointed but then buoyed his spirits with the thoughts that the rest of the Unit probably didn't get sub-four minutes on their first go either.

The rest of the class started to pour over the finish line, high-fiving exhaustedly as they heard that they got under six minutes.

Wolf pointed them towards the showers and Alex jogged on ahead, hoping against hope that they finally had hot water and that he'd get there before it ran out.

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**Voila, I am quite fond of this chapter. Review it for me? Please :)**


	7. The Scapegoat

**Woah, so it's been a while. I'm really sorry but, hi guys! Thanks for sticking around (which I presume you have done if you're reading this). Life has become so mad recently. Starting college and AS levels gave me much more work than I expected (and exams are soon so...) and I got a job! So I'm in college Monday-Friday and McDonald's one day a weekend (up to now, I'd been doing two, so that explains the lack of updates!). This chapter, I'm so not happy with it. But it's written and it's out there. It's needed for the plot but I don't like the way I've written it. Ugh, well, let me know!**

The next day began in pretty much the same way as the previous, except, when Wolf crashed through the door of the cabin, ten pairs of feet slammed hastily to the wooden flooring and ten hands snapped quickly to salute him. Alex was impressed but he couldn't decide whether it was with his classmates for having adapted so quickly or with his Unit for having bent his schoolmates into submission.

Woah, that was new. Alex referred to the soldiers as _his _unit subconsciously.

He supposed that's what they were though. A fifteen year old boy with messy hair and wiry limbs or not, he was still a part of K-Unit. Fox - the gruff Liverpudlian with a hint of playfulness lying beneath his exterior. Eagle – the 'strong and silent' type with a grudging kindness in his heart (this always surprised Alex when it showed). Snake – the medic and member of the unit who, in Alex's opinion, least fitted his codename. And Wolf, the one who fitted it most. Not a bad lot, he reckoned. Could have been stuck with worse.

The boys in Alex's hut dressed quickly and hurried outside to see what the day was to bring. Teeth chattering more than their voices, the students were actually glad to see the Snake beckoning from the mess hall where the rest of the unit were. Once inside and seated, provided with a breakfast of bacon, scrambled egg and beans, the world must have looked a little rosier to the pupils. Alex wasn't fooled; there was a reason for this – food was fuel and he wasn't exactly keen to know why the unit were so keen to set their tank dials to full. He expected a day of long runs and boredom; after all, what else could the soldiers really do with a bunch of teenagers? Alex was pretty sure that the government would frown on them participating in the weapons sessions he'd seen when he first met K-Unit.

Abruptly Wolf stood up. He waited. He simply waited until all heads swivelled in his direction and the sixty students grew silent of their own accord.  
"Right. Breakfast's done. Hope you all ate plenty – today is going to be more exercise and I'm pretty sure you'll need all the energy you can get. You'll be combat training in the martial arts hall." Short and sweet as usual, Alex mused – and maybe the day would turn out better than expected. There was a ripple of murmured excitement around the hall; this was more like it! Not ridiculous scrambles through mud; real army stuff. Wolf cocked one eyebrow and sat down.  
Eagle stood up and explained the plan. The morning would start with instruction in self defence and then there would be sparring, using what they'd learnt.

The sparring segment of the day had begun and Alex looked around at his classmates. Some had looked surprisingly strong in self-defence this morning and he was keen to see them fight. In a way he hadn't experienced before, he was craving the adrenaline rush of his own sparring session. His chest hadn't hurt once when practising the katas – even the more advanced ones – he felt good. Snake had caught his eye a couple of times, worry dancing through his eyes, but Alex just let the enjoyment he was finding from the exercise play across his face momentarily.

They were in a large hall with cold linoleum flooring surrounding a large square of cushioned blue mats. Groups of students were scattered over the room, relishing the break before the sparring began. They sat leaning against the walls and bantering about the fights to come. Meanwhile, the Unit were stood together in a corner, clearly debating something and Alex was dying to know what was going on. Before he could devise a way to find out, however, Fox wheeled around, clapped his hands once and "this is how it's going to work..."

After a good twenty-five minutes of watching his classmates fight, sometimes proficiently, sometimes dismally, he finally heard his name called. Alex's feet carried him towards the centre of the mats and adrenaline coursed through his body. Why was he so ready to fight? He didn't know but that wasn't really important right then. His opponent was a curly haired boy, slightly taller than he was, who he didn't actually know that well. But the boy looked as if he knew who Alex was and was almost amused about being drawn against him. Well, Alex wasn't about to go without a good fight. Who even was this boy? How dare he look so amused?

Before he knew it, the fighting had begun. It came so naturally to Alex, the fluidity of his movements earned him a few good hits and some dodges, before long a mutter of consternation could be heard. Alex ignored them, it wasn't his problem that he was a better fighter than they wanted him to be. In fact, no, he was going to make them feel worse; show them he wasn't that boy to be laughed at with the 'problems'. His opponent shrank back as Alex began to punch more and more fervently, the slightest prickle of guilt nudged his mind – it was just bad luck that he'd become the scapegoat of Alex's frustration – but then again, he had looked at him for an easy fight.

Hitting, kicking, ducking, dodging. Punches connecting with soft flesh, the sound of air being forced out of lungs. The strain of his heart against the scar, like a restriction but also an aggravator. Grunting with the effort. Arms around his shoulders? Shake them off, off, OFF.  
"Get off me!" Alex snarled, breaking the hold Eagle had around his shoulders. He whirled around and went to punch him in the stomach, why was he stopping him when he felt so g_ood?_  
A hand caught his wrist, twisted his arm up and in towards himself. Wolf was looking into his eyes, he was told to get outside 'now!' Alex whirled on his heel and stalked out of the hall, barely seeing his opponent being surrounded by his classmates.

He kicked open the doors and threw himself into a sitting position, knees hunched, heavy breathing and leaning against the wall. Where'd that come from? The anger? There'd be a hell of a lot of explaining to do later but he wasn't sure he understood himself. Alex waited, one of the Unit would be out soon, he had no idea what they'd do with him, but he'd messed everything up hadn't he? No chance anyone would be accepting him in school after this; he hoped he hadn't hurt the other boy too much. For now he just had to wait.

**Review me?**


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